The dense blast of electric guitar that kicks off track one, "E-Pro," firmly announces that pop music's most versatile contemporary chameleon has once again changed colors.

Beck [ tickets ] has left behind the somber, reflective mood of 2002's gorgeously realized "Sea Change" in favor of a harder-edged, hip-swaying vibe on "Guero."

The album is an absolute triumph that reads like a roadmap to the artist's joyfully eclectic career. In that sense, "Guero" doesn't represent a new direction for Beck; it signals a long-overdue synthesis of all the sounds and moods that have come before. The freewheeling pop-rock of 1994's "Mellow Gold," playful big beats of 1996's "Odelay," Vegas swerve of 1999's "Midnite Vultures" and singer-songwriter vibe of "Sea Change" can all be heard on this record. One might have to listen closely to find all those elements buried within the often-dizzying mix, but it's worth the effort.

With help from longtime collaborators the Dust Brothers, Beck boogies his way down a crowded Tijuana street, pushing two turntables and a microphone on the deliriously good "Que Onda Guero," and then goes clubbing with "Girl." The singer seems to channel Sting on the lushly cinematic "Missing" and then is just stingingly good as he rhymes over lo-fi percussion work in "Black Tambourine."

The album closes with the curiously affecting "Emergency Exit," a bizarre mix of blues and electronica that seems a likely candidate for further exploration by the artist.